The Puss Puss Band: Heartfelt Music Leaves a Lasting Impression

Paul J Wolfle

5 months ago

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The debut album from The Puss Puss Band, Echoes Across The Cruel Sea, features a collection of closely connected songs that lay bare a sincere first-person candor set to music. After listening, you cannot help but feel the songwriters must have somehow lived the lyrics. A singular blend of electric and acoustic indie rock and style, adept musicianship clearly characterizes each of the 12 new tracks. But there is so much more to say and hear.

The Album’s Personnel

Right away, you realize The Puss Puss Band, South Wales-based multi-instrumentalists and singers Asa Galeozzie and Lee Pugh, are no mere mortals. Just judge them by the musical company they keep: namely the well-known keyboardist John “Rabbit” Bundrick, who also played on Echoes Across The Sea. Bundrick’s credits include being a member of Free, session work with The Who, a fundamental musician on the original cast soundtrack of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and far too many other legendary acknowledgements to list here. Meanwhile, Galeozzie and Pugh, along with Bundrick, have created their own winning formula.

Released in April, the album opens with the 3:39 “Bucko’s Lullaby,” a consistently metered cut, seasoned with restrained but distinctly powerful vocals, including unique inflections and the soulful organ work that lightly hovers throughout song. Before long, like a fine book, the track builds to a moving orchestral crescendo. That is probably not a coincidence, considering Galeozzie and Pugh like to call their songs, “pocket epics.” Another fast growing favorite, “Alone,” a strummed acoustic track that cycles through guitar chords as gentle harmonies fill the way, has just the right beat, amount of instrumentation and commercial crowd appeal for the radio charts. The slightly moody and introspective lyrics pretty much speak for themselves: “Because everybody’s got a time, where they break and when their sky falls, where you truly get to know, what it means to be alone…”

A Nuanced Assortment

From the musicians and writing to the performance and production, Echoes Across The Cruel Sea is impressive in every sense, including “Beeswax,” a progressive, trippy, dream pop music design with plenty of atmosphere to spare. Listen closely to “Not Just You” and you might be able to pick up on elements of an early Greg Lake charisma during his Emerson, Lake and Palmer days. No doubt, Lee Pugh (vocals, lead guitars, rhythm guitars, bass guitar, backing vocals, orchestral arrangements, programming) and Asa Galeozzie (rhythm guitars, bass guitar, melodica, drums, backing vocals, orchestral arrangements and programming) blend a variety of awareness’s into their sound.

All tracks on Echoes Across The Cruel Sea were written, arranged, engineered, produced, mixed and mastered by Asa Galeozzie and Lee Pugh. John “Rabbit” Bundrick plays piano, Hammond organ, keyboards, synths, SFX, orchestral arrangements and programming. The album is available at Bandcamp. To answer your question, yes, the band’s name is based on a cat.